Chlorine dioxide is commonly used as a disinfectant and sterilizing agent in diverse applications ranging from bleaching wood pulp to treatment of drinking water or wastewater. Traditional methods for generating aqueous solutions containing chlorine dioxide include reacting an acid with sodium chlorite in an aqueous solution to produce chlorous acid and subsequently oxidizing the chlorous acid to chlorine dioxide via catalysis or chlorination. In an aqueous solution, chlorine dioxide is relatively unstable. Therefore, aqueous solutions of chlorine dioxide are traditionally produced at the application site and must be used within a short period of time.